Roots: The Next Generations
Encyclopedia
Roots: The Next Generations is a 1979 television miniseries that continues the story of the family of Alex Haley
from the 1880s, and their life in Henning, Tennessee
, to the 1960s, with Haley researching his family history and his travels to Africa
to learn of his ancestor, Kunta Kinte
. This sequel to the 1977 miniseries
is based on the last seven chapters of Haley's Roots: The Saga of an American Family
and additional material by him.
Roots: The Next Generations was shot with a budget of $16.6 million, nearly three times that of the original.
), the great-grandson of Kunta Kinte
, has become a prominent leader of the black community in Henning, Tennessee
. Although he has established a working relationship with the town's white leader, Col. Warner (Henry Fonda
), race relations in the community are still strained. Jim Crow laws, literacy test
s, and later the Ku Klux Klan
increase the tensions.
A sub plot involves Col. Warner's youngest son, Jim (Richard Thomas
) falling in love with African American school teacher, Carrie Barden (Fay Hauser); Col. Warner disapproves of this and gets Tom to let her go or close down the school. After having an argument with Tom's oldest daughter, Elizabeth (Debbi Morgan
), who had not accepted a boy that she fell in love with, based on the fact that he was half white, Tom decides to let her stay. Jim and Carrie get married in Memphis, and Col. Warner disowns his son by cutting him out of his will, but will ensure that no harm comes to them.
Tom's youngest daughter Cynthia (Bever-Leigh Banfield) falls in love and marries hard-working Will Palmer (Stan Shaw
). Despite the racial oppression, Will wins the trust of the local business leaders and is allowed to takeover the local lumberyard after its previous owner Bob Campbell (Harry Morgan
) ran it into the ground.
As both the town and the lumber business grows, Will and Cynthia are able to send their daughter Bertha (Irene Cara
) to Lane College
. There, she meets and falls in love with classmate Simon Haley (Dorian Harewood
), the son of a sharecropper. With an insufficient amount of money to attend A&T College
, Simon gets a summer job as a porter for the Pullman Company
. He meets a passenger who later identifies himself as R. S. M. Boyce (James Daly), an executive of the Curtis Publishing Company
, and offers to help pay Simon's tuition and board.
Soon after he graduates from A&T, Simon enlists in the military to fight in World War I
and is deployed to France
with a segregated, all-black unit. He returns to America after the war and, despite the problems associated with the 1918 flu pandemic and the Red Summer of 1919
, reunites with and marries Bertha. Simon then gets a job as a professor of agriculture at the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical Institute
. During the New Deal
era, Simon tries to organize the local farmers, much to the resistance of the local white cotton landowners. Some time later, Bertha dies from internal bleeding, as Alex and his younger brothers are staying with their grandmother and great aunt, she shows him a tree limb that Will had been working on before he died which shows historical dates and their ancestors.
As World War II
approaches, Simon convinces his seventeen-year-old son Alex
(Damon Evans
) to enlist in the military. Alex joins the U.S. Coast Guard
. During his service in the Pacific theater of operations
, he teaches himself how to write stories, also gaining help from a officer (Andy Griffith
). After the war, he successfully petitions the Coast Guard for permission to transfer into the field of journalism, but his career ambitions end up costing his marriage to his first wife Nan (Debbie Allen
).
Approaching his 40s, Alex (now played by James Earl Jones
) has become an established journalist in the 1960s, drawing high-profile interviews with such figures as George Lincoln Rockwell
(Marlon Brando
) and Malcolm X
(Al Freeman, Jr.
), and collaborating with the latter to write The Autobiography of Malcolm X
. A visit to his relatives in Henning then sparks his desire to research Kunta Kinte and the rest of his family history. The miniseries ends after Alex travels to Africa and listens to a tribal historian tell the story of Kinte's capture.
were initially reluctant to make a sequel to the 1977 miniseries, but later agreed to do it. Writer Ernest Kinoy
then originally wrote an outline for Roots: The Next Generations based on the final seven chapters of Roots: The Saga of an American Family
and about 1,000 pages worth of family recollections that Alex Haley
dictated into a tape recorder.
The producers aimed for casting high quality actors, and basically had no trouble signing the people they wanted because of the success of the first miniseries. While Georg Stanford Brown
reprises his role as Tom Harvey, James Earl Jones
was selected partially due to his physical resemblance to Haley. Wanting to also participate in the miniseries, Marlon Brando
basically just called out of the blue and asked for a small yet memorable role; he was cast as George Lincoln Rockwell
.
as 7 two-hour episodes for consecutive nights from February 18 to February 24, 1979.
Part I aired a week prior to the rest of the series in the ratings.
reran the series hosted by several of the original cast including Lynne Moody, Dorian Harewood, Stan Shaw, Kristoff St. John, and Irene Cara.
Alex Haley
Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was an African-American writer. He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.-Early life:...
from the 1880s, and their life in Henning, Tennessee
Henning, Tennessee
Henning is a town in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 970 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Henning is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land....
, to the 1960s, with Haley researching his family history and his travels to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to learn of his ancestor, Kunta Kinte
Kunta Kinte
Kunta Kinte is the central character of the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by American author Alex Haley, and of the television miniseries Roots, based on the book. Haley described his book as faction - a mixture of fact and fiction...
. This sequel to the 1977 miniseries
Roots (TV miniseries)
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...
is based on the last seven chapters of Haley's Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a novel written by Alex Haley and first published in 1976. It tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African, captured as an adolescent and sold into slavery in the United States, and follows his life and the lives of his descendants in the U.S....
and additional material by him.
Roots: The Next Generations was shot with a budget of $16.6 million, nearly three times that of the original.
Plot summary
The story resumes in 1882 where Tom Harvey (Georg Stanford BrownGeorg Stanford Brown
Georg Stanford Brown is an Afro-Cuban-American actor and director, perhaps best known as one of the stars of the ABC police television series The Rookies from 1972–76...
), the great-grandson of Kunta Kinte
Kunta Kinte
Kunta Kinte is the central character of the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by American author Alex Haley, and of the television miniseries Roots, based on the book. Haley described his book as faction - a mixture of fact and fiction...
, has become a prominent leader of the black community in Henning, Tennessee
Henning, Tennessee
Henning is a town in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 970 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Henning is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land....
. Although he has established a working relationship with the town's white leader, Col. Warner (Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
), race relations in the community are still strained. Jim Crow laws, literacy test
Literacy test
A literacy test, in the context of United States political history, refers to the government practice of testing the literacy of potential citizens at the federal level, and potential voters at the state level. The federal government first employed literacy tests as part of the immigration process...
s, and later the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
increase the tensions.
A sub plot involves Col. Warner's youngest son, Jim (Richard Thomas
Richard Thomas (actor)
Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor, best known for his role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama The Waltons.- Early life :Thomas was born Richard Earl Thomas in New York,...
) falling in love with African American school teacher, Carrie Barden (Fay Hauser); Col. Warner disapproves of this and gets Tom to let her go or close down the school. After having an argument with Tom's oldest daughter, Elizabeth (Debbi Morgan
Debbi Morgan
Deborah "Debbi" Morgan is an American film and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Dr. Angie Hubbard on the ABC soap opera All My Children, and for her role as The Seer in the fourth and fifth seasons of Charmed.Morgan joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as...
), who had not accepted a boy that she fell in love with, based on the fact that he was half white, Tom decides to let her stay. Jim and Carrie get married in Memphis, and Col. Warner disowns his son by cutting him out of his will, but will ensure that no harm comes to them.
Tom's youngest daughter Cynthia (Bever-Leigh Banfield) falls in love and marries hard-working Will Palmer (Stan Shaw
Stan Shaw
Stan Shaw is an American actor.Born in Chicago, Illinois, he is the son of Bertha Shaw and saxophonist Eddie Shaw, and cousin of the late soul singers Sam Cooke and Tyrone Davis Brother of Vaan Shaw...
). Despite the racial oppression, Will wins the trust of the local business leaders and is allowed to takeover the local lumberyard after its previous owner Bob Campbell (Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
) ran it into the ground.
As both the town and the lumber business grows, Will and Cynthia are able to send their daughter Bertha (Irene Cara
Irene Cara
Irene Cara is an American singer and actress. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing "Flashdance... What a Feeling." She is also known for her recording of the song "Fame", and she also starred in the 1980 film Fame.She married Hollywood stuntman...
) to Lane College
Lane College
-Namesake:SS Lane Victory, a World War II Victory Ship, and one of the few such ships surviving, was named for Lane College. It is now docked in San Pedro, California . It is now open as a museum.-External links:*...
. There, she meets and falls in love with classmate Simon Haley (Dorian Harewood
Dorian Harewood
W. Dorian Harewood is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his portrayal of Simon Haley in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations.-Career:...
), the son of a sharecropper. With an insufficient amount of money to attend A&T College
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is a land-grant university located in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest publicly funded historically black college in the state of North Carolina.NC A&T is a constituent institution of the University of North...
, Simon gets a summer job as a porter for the Pullman Company
Pullman Company
The Pullman Palace Car Company, founded by George Pullman, manufactured railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Pullman developed the sleeping car which carried his name into the 1980s...
. He meets a passenger who later identifies himself as R. S. M. Boyce (James Daly), an executive of the Curtis Publishing Company
Curtis Publishing Company
The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the Ladies' Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, The American Home,...
, and offers to help pay Simon's tuition and board.
Soon after he graduates from A&T, Simon enlists in the military to fight in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and is deployed to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
with a segregated, all-black unit. He returns to America after the war and, despite the problems associated with the 1918 flu pandemic and the Red Summer of 1919
Red Summer of 1919
Red Summer describes the race riots that occurred in more than three dozen cities in the United States during the summer and early autumn of 1919. In most instances, whites attacked African Americans. In some cases groups of blacks fought back, notably in Chicago, where, along with Washington, D.C....
, reunites with and marries Bertha. Simon then gets a job as a professor of agriculture at the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical Institute
Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University
Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, also known as Alabama A&M University or AAMU, is a public, historically black university, Land-grant university located in Normal, Madison County, Alabama....
. During the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
era, Simon tries to organize the local farmers, much to the resistance of the local white cotton landowners. Some time later, Bertha dies from internal bleeding, as Alex and his younger brothers are staying with their grandmother and great aunt, she shows him a tree limb that Will had been working on before he died which shows historical dates and their ancestors.
As World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
approaches, Simon convinces his seventeen-year-old son Alex
Alex Haley
Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was an African-American writer. He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.-Early life:...
(Damon Evans
Damon Evans (actor)
Damon Evans is an American actor, best known as the second of two actors who portrayed Lionel Jefferson on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons. He also portrayed the young Alex Haley in the ABC television miniseries Roots: The Next Generations.Evans attended the Interlochen Academy on a Reader's Digest...
) to enlist in the military. Alex joins the U.S. Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
. During his service in the Pacific theater of operations
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
, he teaches himself how to write stories, also gaining help from a officer (Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
). After the war, he successfully petitions the Coast Guard for permission to transfer into the field of journalism, but his career ambitions end up costing his marriage to his first wife Nan (Debbie Allen
Debbie Allen
Deborrah Kaye “Debbie” Allen is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, television director, television producer, and a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities...
).
Approaching his 40s, Alex (now played by James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
) has become an established journalist in the 1960s, drawing high-profile interviews with such figures as George Lincoln Rockwell
George Lincoln Rockwell
George Lincoln Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party. Rockwell was a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the United States, and his beliefs and writings have continued to be influential among white nationalists and neo-Nazis.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Bloomington,...
(Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
) and Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
(Al Freeman, Jr.
Al Freeman, Jr.
Al Freeman, Jr., M.Ed. is an African-American actor and director....
), and collaborating with the latter to write The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and Malcolm X's 1965 assassination...
. A visit to his relatives in Henning then sparks his desire to research Kunta Kinte and the rest of his family history. The miniseries ends after Alex travels to Africa and listens to a tribal historian tell the story of Kinte's capture.
Cast
- Georg Stanford BrownGeorg Stanford BrownGeorg Stanford Brown is an Afro-Cuban-American actor and director, perhaps best known as one of the stars of the ABC police television series The Rookies from 1972–76...
- Tom Harvey - Lynne MoodyLynne MoodyLynne Moody is an American actress who has made many appearances in television.Her most prominent roles include Tracy Curtis Taylor in That's My Mama from 1974–1975 and was replaced by Joan Pringle in the second season; she also played Irene Harvey in Roots, Polly Dawson in Soap, Nurse Julie...
- Irene Harvey - Debbi MorganDebbi MorganDeborah "Debbi" Morgan is an American film and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Dr. Angie Hubbard on the ABC soap opera All My Children, and for her role as The Seer in the fourth and fifth seasons of Charmed.Morgan joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as...
- Elizabeth Harvey - Beah RichardsBeah RichardsBeah Richards was an American actress of stage, screen and television. She was a poet, playwright and author....
- Cynthia Harvey Palmer (older) - Henry FondaHenry FondaHenry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
- Colonel Frederick Warner - Olivia de HavillandOlivia de HavillandOlivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
- Mrs. Warner - Richard ThomasRichard Thomas (actor)Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor, best known for his role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama The Waltons.- Early life :Thomas was born Richard Earl Thomas in New York,...
- Jim Warner - Marc SingerMarc SingerMarc Singer is a Canadian-born American actor best known for his roles in the Beastmaster film series and as Mike Donovan in the original 1980s TV series V.-Personal life:...
- Andy Warner - Stan ShawStan ShawStan Shaw is an American actor.Born in Chicago, Illinois, he is the son of Bertha Shaw and saxophonist Eddie Shaw, and cousin of the late soul singers Sam Cooke and Tyrone Davis Brother of Vaan Shaw...
- Will Palmer - Fay Hauser - Carrie Barden
- Irene CaraIrene CaraIrene Cara is an American singer and actress. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing "Flashdance... What a Feeling." She is also known for her recording of the song "Fame", and she also starred in the 1980 film Fame.She married Hollywood stuntman...
- Bertha Palmer Haley - Avon LongAvon LongAvon Long was an American Broadway actor and singer.-Life:Long was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He performed in a number of Broadway shows, including Black Rhythm , Porgy and Bess , and Beggar's Holiday...
- Chicken George Moore - Roger E. MosleyRoger E. MosleyRoger Earl Mosley is an American actor best known for his role as the helicopter pilot Theodore "T.C." Calvin on the long running television series, Magnum, P.I., which starred Tom Selleck as the title character.-Early life:...
- Lee Garnet - Paul KosloPaul KosloPaul Koslo is a German-Canadian actor.-Career:Koslo started his career in such 1970's cult films as Nam's Angels a.k.a. The Losers, , Mr. Majestyk, Vanishing Point, Joe Kidd and The Stone Killer...
- Earl Crowther - Harry MorganHarry MorganHarry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
- Bob Campbell - Dorian HarewoodDorian HarewoodW. Dorian Harewood is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his portrayal of Simon Haley in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations.-Career:...
- Simon Haley - Ruby DeeRuby DeeRuby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist, perhaps best known for co-starring in the film A Raisin in the Sun and the film American Gangster for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby...
- Queen Haley - Hal WilliamsHal WilliamsHarold "Hal" Williams is an American actor, best known for his recurring role as the black cop Officer Smith on Sanford and Son, and as the patriarch Lester Jenkins, the husband of Marla Gibbs's character, on 227....
- Alec Haley - Greg MorrisGreg MorrisFrancis Gregory Alan "Greg" Morris was an American television and movie actor.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Morris began his acting career in the 1960s making guest appearances on many TV shows such as The Twilight Zone and Ben Casey...
- Beeman Jones - Brian Stokes MitchellBrian Stokes MitchellBrian Stokes Mitchell is an American stage, film and television actor. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading men of the Broadway theatre since the early 1990s...
- John Dolan - Ja'net Dubois - Sally Harvey
- Slim GaillardSlim GaillardBulee "Slim" Gaillard was an American jazz singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist, noted for his vocalese singing and word play in a language he called "Vout"...
- Sam Wesley - George VoskovecJirí VoskovecJiří Voskovec was a Czech-American actor, playwright, dramatist, director, translator, and poet...
- Mr. Goldstein - Jason WingreenJason WingreenJason Wingreen is an American actor.-Biography:Born in 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, he grew up in Howard Beach, Queens, attended John Adams High School, and graduated from Brooklyn College in 1941. Wingreen lent his voice to Boba Fett in the original and 1997 theatrical versions of The Empire...
- Judge Quartermain - Charles RobinsonCharles RobinsonCharles Robinson may refer to:*Charles Robinson , English politician, MP for Canterbury*Charles Robinson , physician and politician in Ontario, Canada*Charles Robinson , British book illustrator...
- Luke Bettiger - Ossie DavisOssie DavisOssie Davis was an American film actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and social activist.-Early years:...
- Dad Jones - Kene HollidayKene HollidayKenneth Earl "Kene" Holliday is a prolific American character actor of stage, film, and television, best known for his role as Ben Matlock's original private investigator, Tyler Hudson, on Andy Griffith's hit television series Matlock....
- Detroit - Albert PopwellAlbert PopwellAlbert Popwell, , was an African American actor in television and films from the late 1960s. Born in New York City, Popwell started as a professional dancer before taking up a career in acting...
- Fader - John RubinsteinJohn RubinsteinJohn Arthur Rubinstein is an American film, Broadway, and television actor, a composer of film and theatre music, and a director in theatre and television.-Early life:...
- Lieutenant Hamilton Ten Eyck - Bernie CaseyBernie CaseyBernard Terry "Bernie" Casey is a professional actor who initially had a career as an interscholastic, intercollegiate and professional football player. Casey was also a record-breaking track and field athlete for Bowling Green State University...
- Bubba Haywood - Pam GrierPam GrierPamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films such as 1974's Foxy Brown. Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film...
- Francey - Roosevelt Grier - Big Slew Johnson
- James Daly - RSM Boyce
- Percy RodriguezPercy RodriguezPercy Rodriguez was a Canadian actor who appeared in many television shows and films from the 1950s to the 1980s...
- Boyd Moffatt - Robert CulpRobert CulpRobert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
- Lyle Pettijohn - Dina MerrillDina Merrill-Early life:Merrill was born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton in New York City, New York, the only child of Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband, Wall Street stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton...
- Mrs. Hickinger - Brock PetersBrock PetersBrock Peters was an American actor, best known for playing the role of Tom Robinson in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird...
- Ab Decker - Bever-Leigh Banfield - Cynthia Palmer (young adult)
- Paul WinfieldPaul WinfieldPaul Edward Winfield was an American television, film, and stage actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark film Sounder which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Winfield also portrayed Dr....
- Dr. Horace Huguley - Lynn Hamilton - Cousin Georgia
- Kristoff St. JohnKristoff St. JohnKristoff St. John is an American actor, best known for his role as Neil Winters on the daytime US drama The Young and the Restless.-Career:...
- Alex HaleyAlex HaleyAlexander Murray Palmer Haley was an African-American writer. He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.-Early life:...
(child) - Logan RamseyLogan RamseyLogan Carlisle Ramsey, Jr. was an American character actor of television and film for nearly 50 years. Largely a TV actor, he appeared on, among others: The Edge of Night, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, M*A*S*H, Charlie's Angels, Mork and Mindy, Knight Rider and Night...
- D.L. Lewis - Dennis FimpleDennis FimpleDennis Clarke Fimple was an American character actor. Throughout his career, he made guest appearances in a variety of TV shows, including Here Come the Brides, Petticoat Junction, M*A*S*H, Simon & Simon, Sledge Hammer!, Knight Rider, Quantum Leap and ER...
- Sheriff Duffy - Damon EvansDamon Evans (actor)Damon Evans is an American actor, best known as the second of two actors who portrayed Lionel Jefferson on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons. He also portrayed the young Alex Haley in the ABC television miniseries Roots: The Next Generations.Evans attended the Interlochen Academy on a Reader's Digest...
- Alex HaleyAlex HaleyAlexander Murray Palmer Haley was an African-American writer. He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.-Early life:...
(age 17-25) - Debbie AllenDebbie AllenDeborrah Kaye “Debbie” Allen is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, television director, television producer, and a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities...
- Nan Branch Haley - Andy GriffithAndy GriffithAndy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
- Commander Robert Munroe - Diahann Carroll - Zeona Haley
- Rafer JohnsonRafer JohnsonRafer Lewis Johnson is an American former decathlete and film actor.-Biography:Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas, but the family moved to Kingsburg, California, when he was nine. For a while, they were the only black family in the town. A versatile athlete, he played on Kingsburg High School's...
- Nelson - Carmen McRaeCarmen McRaeCarmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
- Lila - John HancockJohn Hancock (actor)John Hancock was an American film and television actor.Born in Hazen, Arkansas, Hancock is possibly best remembered for his role as "Scotty" in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations...
- Scotty - Telma HopkinsTelma HopkinsTelma Louise Hopkins is an American singer and television actress. A member of the 1970s pop group Tony Orlando and Dawn, she later starred in several television sitcoms, including Bosom Buddies, Gimme a Break!, Family Matters, Getting By, and Half & Half...
- Daisy - Kim FieldsKim FieldsKim Victoria Fields is an American actress and television director. She is known for her roles as Tootie Ramsey on the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life, and as Regine Hunter on the Fox sitcom Living Single...
- Lydia Haley - Milt KoganMilt KoganMilt Kogan is an American actor. He is best known for playing the desk sergeant, Officer Kogan, on the television series Barney Miller in 1975....
- Mel Klein - James Earl JonesJames Earl JonesJames Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
- Alex HaleyAlex HaleyAlexander Murray Palmer Haley was an African-American writer. He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.-Early life:... - Howard RollinsHoward RollinsHoward Ellsworth Rollins, Jr. was an American television, film, and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Coalhouse Walker, Jr...
- George Haley - Marlon BrandoMarlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
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- Sophia
Production
Producers Stan Margulies and David L. WolperDavid L. Wolper
David Lloyd Wolper was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as Roots, The Thorn Birds, North & South, L.A. Confidential, and the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory...
were initially reluctant to make a sequel to the 1977 miniseries, but later agreed to do it. Writer Ernest Kinoy
Ernest Kinoy
-Early life:Kinoy was born in New York City on April 1, 1925; his father and mother were both high-school teachers. His older brother Arthur Kinoy later became a leading constitutional lawyer. Kinoy attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and later Columbia University, although his studies...
then originally wrote an outline for Roots: The Next Generations based on the final seven chapters of Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a novel written by Alex Haley and first published in 1976. It tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African, captured as an adolescent and sold into slavery in the United States, and follows his life and the lives of his descendants in the U.S....
and about 1,000 pages worth of family recollections that Alex Haley
Alex Haley
Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was an African-American writer. He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.-Early life:...
dictated into a tape recorder.
The producers aimed for casting high quality actors, and basically had no trouble signing the people they wanted because of the success of the first miniseries. While Georg Stanford Brown
Georg Stanford Brown
Georg Stanford Brown is an Afro-Cuban-American actor and director, perhaps best known as one of the stars of the ABC police television series The Rookies from 1972–76...
reprises his role as Tom Harvey, James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
was selected partially due to his physical resemblance to Haley. Wanting to also participate in the miniseries, Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
basically just called out of the blue and asked for a small yet memorable role; he was cast as George Lincoln Rockwell
George Lincoln Rockwell
George Lincoln Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party. Rockwell was a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the United States, and his beliefs and writings have continued to be influential among white nationalists and neo-Nazis.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Bloomington,...
.
Episode list
Roots: The Next Generations originally aired on ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
as 7 two-hour episodes for consecutive nights from February 18 to February 24, 1979.
| Episode | Approximate time period | Featured Kinte family member(s) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken George | Tom and Irene Harvey | Cynthia Harvey Palmer | Will Palmer | Bertha Palmer Haley | Simon Haley | Alex Haley | ||
| Part I | 1882 | |||||||
| Part II | 1896 | |||||||
| Part III | 1914 – 1917 | |||||||
| Part IV | 1917 – 1921 | |||||||
| Part V | 1932 | |||||||
| Part VI | 1939 – 1950 | |||||||
| Part VII | 1960 – 1967 |
Ratings and viewers
The miniseries was watched by an estimated 110 million viewers and averaged a 30.1 rating and 45% share of the audience.| Episode | Ranking | Number of Households | Number of Viewers | Rating | Share | Date | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part I | #8 | N/A | 65 million | 27.8% | 41% | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
|
| Part II | #9 | 22 million | 65 million | 29.5% | N/A | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
|
| Part III | #4 | 24.4 million | 70 million | 32.7% | 50% | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
|
| Part IV | #6 | 23.7 million | N/A | 31.8% | N/A | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
|
| Part V | #7 | 23.6 million | N/A | 31.7% | N/A | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
|
| Part VI | #10 | 21.5 million | N/A | 28.9% | N/A | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
|
| Part VII | #11 | N/A | N/A | 28.6% | N/A | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
Part I aired a week prior to the rest of the series in the ratings.
TV One
In July and September 2007, the network TV OneTV One (Radio One)
TV One is an American television channel based in Silver Spring, Maryland and primarily owned by Radio One and Comcast Corporation. It targets African American adults with a broad range of programming...
reran the series hosted by several of the original cast including Lynne Moody, Dorian Harewood, Stan Shaw, Kristoff St. John, and Irene Cara.